The King and the Kingdom of Heaven

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: Behold, thy king cometh unto thee; he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, even upon a colt the foal of an ass” (Zech. 9.9 and quoted in Matt. 21.5). Matthew the first Evangel presents to us Christ as the King, the One who at His first coming some two thousand years ago came incognito in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. The world in general did not and does not know Him, nor will it accept Him; but to those to whom the heavenly Father reveals the Son, this Jesus of Nazareth is the Anointed One of God. And hence the purpose of the King’s coming to the world, as is shown by this Evangel, is to gather to himself a people in whom by the Spirit of God He can build a kingdom that is not of this world but which is of heaven. But Matthew also shows us that the church has been taught to pray, “Thy kingdom come” (6.10), indicating that the King is coming once again! He intends to manifest publicly His kingdom on earth. At the appointed hour the King will indeed return; and then will come true what is told in Revelation, that “the kingdom of the world is become the kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ: and he shall reign for ever and ever” (11.15). So that this Evangel perceives the gospel of Jesus Christ in its fullest sense as being the gospel of the King. We will not have a total gospel if we fail to recognize Jesus Christ as King and Lord of our very lives. Hence in the present volume, Watchman Nee leads us through the Gospel according to Matthew with this one theme in view—Jesus as King. The highlights are found in Matthew chapters 5-7 where the reality (or spiritual principles) of the kingdom of heaven is explained, in chapter 13 where the mysteries (or transient outward appearance) of this same kingdom are interpreted, and in chapters 24-25 where the coming (or final public manifestation) of the heavenly kingdom on earth is expounded. All who love the appearing of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords are encouraged to read this commentary that they may be better prepared to meet Him. May all be helped by these pages to understand the kingdom of heaven and to place themselves daily under the kingship of Christ Jesus the Lord.

About the author (1978)

Watchman Nee was born in 1903 in Swatow, China as an answer to his mother's prayer. Having already borne two daughters, she prayed that if God should give her a son, she would give him back to God. As the boy grew up, he showed every sign of promise except he had no interest in things spiritual. It was not till he was seventeen years of age that he was met by the Lord. He knew at that time that he must accept Christ Jesus as his Savior, yet he struggled over the necessity of surrendering his life to the Lord. The love of Christ finally overwhelmed him and he capitulated to Christ. This was on April 29, 1920. He had such a love for the Word of God that he studied it almost incessantly, so within a very short period he had read the whole Bible several times. He began to witness for Christ to his school mates and soon earned the nickname of "the preacher". In searching the Scripture, he (with a few other believers) discovered 'the simplicity and purity that is towards Christ.' He determined to follow the Word of God explicitly and nothing but the Word. In 1927 he began his life work in Shanghai, where he was able to practice the vision which the Lord had shown him in the Word. He understood that the eternal purpose of God is Christ and His Church. Through the mighty working of the Holy Spirit and the faithful ministry of this servant of God, this testimony spread over the vast land of China. In 1949 the Communists took over China. Knowing what would be waiting for him back home, he nonetheless felt strongly his responsibility toward God and His Church. So he returned to China from Hong Kong in 1950. In April of 1952 he was seized and put in prison. He was later falsely accused as a master spy and was sentenced to twenty years of imprisonment. In prison he was not allowed to do anything but what was assigned him by prison authority. At the expiration of his sentence term, he was not released, and the news arrived quickly that he died faithful to the Lord.